Drinking straw dispenser



Feb. 17, 1942.

G. w. PACE 2,273,653 DRINKING STRAW DISPENSER Filed July 17, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet l 2 I/VVfNTO/E, @5020: V14 PACE, .B y

Feb. 17, 1942. w PACE DRINKING STRAW DISPENSER Fil ed July 17, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 s e H m E. N C m A N w WP r N r [W A m N m N w. E N llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll A. :1 4 vvrlaw,llnnl 'vnd I G 2 Patented Feb. 17, 1942 .UNlTED STATE S PATENT OFFICE DRINKING STRAW DISPENSER George W. Pace, Elwood, Ind. Application July 17, 1940, Serial No. 3455905 '7 Claims. (01. 312-84) This invention relates to means for dispensing drinking or soda straws and has for a primary object the provision of a structure whereby the straws may be dispensed one or more at a time to be placed directly into a bottle ready foruse without coming into contact at any time with It is known that hereto.- fore soda straws have been dispensed directly from packages and hoppers but in all of the known structures, the operator had to receive the straws in his hands and transfer them to the glass or bottle in which the straws were to be used. The invention eliminates this undesirable feature in a very simple structure automatically operated simply by entering tle or a container into the mouth of the opening through which the straws are to be dispensed.

The straws may be dispensed either directly from the original package or may be dumped the operators hands.

into a hopper and dispensed therefrom without Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views in the drawings.

In the upper end of a housing, generally indicated by the numeral l0,is positioned a trough I I transversely thereacross terminating in a lower floor [2 across which extends a slot 13. The

,trough II is made to be sufiiciently long to receivetherein at least the corner of a package of straws that hasbeen opened along that corner to permit the straws to drop down on the floor E2. The length of the trough II is, of course, sufiicientlylong to accommodate the lengths of straws to be used. In the form herein shown, the trough H is attached to the housing in in any suitable manner, herein shown as by a bracket M, the upper end of which is turned over to engage with an inturned flange l5 of the housing wall.

Bearing plates l6 and I! are fixed to the outer ends of the trough H and project downwardly therebelow to receive therethrough the the neck of a.bot-

of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

a rocker lever 2|,

of a roller 19. This roller l9 extends entirely across the under side of the trough floor l2 to form normally a stop across the slot l3 to prevent straws from feeding therefrom. This roller l9 carries a longitudinal groove 29 that is normally presented along the slot 13 so that one or more straws may drop therein, the number of straws depending upon the dimensions of the groove 20. That is, when the roller is presented, as indicated in Fig. 2, straws may drop through the slot l3 into the groove as indicated but further feeding will be arrested. The upper edge of the roller I9 is substantially tangential with the under side of the floor l2.

Secured to the axle l8 at one end thereof is herein shown as being adjustably attached to the axle to any desired fixed position therearound. A connecting rod 22 has its upper end rockably connected to the lever 2| and its lower end rockably connected to the transverse lever 23 which is mounted within the housing It! upon a suitable bracket 24 extending from the wall of the housing.

In the under side of the housing It is a hole through which a thimble 25 is free to reciprocate with a vertical travel. This thimble 25 is secured to a foot 26 of the arm 21 that is carried upwardly and rockably engaged with the lever 23 on the opposite side of the pivot 28 from the connection therewith by the connecting rod 22, Fig. l. The juncture of the thimble 25 with the foot 28 may be formed in any suitable manner, such as by welding. In the present form,

axle I8 the foot 26 extending along the side of the thimble 25 comes intoabutme'nt with a stop 29 comprising an upturned portion of the fioor of the housing it. A spring 30 fixed to the lever 23 and a bracket 3| on the housing It normally rocks the lever 23 to hold the foot 26 against that stop 29. The various levers and connections therebetween as just described are so proportioned and adjusted that when the foot 26 is resting against the stop 29, the roller l9 will be maintained by the spring 30 in that position indicated in Fig. 2 wherein the groove 28 is uppermost and in alignment with the trough slot I3.

Under the roller 19 and toward one end thereof is mounted a funne1 32 with its small end in axial alignment with the thimble 25 and spaced somewhat above the normal lower position of the thimble. One side and slightly above the upper end of the funnel 32 is mounted a finger 33 to extend transversely across and directly under the roller l9. This finger 33 is mounted at least slightly to one center of the roller l9.

Within the thimble 25 is an abutment 34, herein shown as consisting of an annular ring. In using the structure thus described, the upper end of a container, herein shown as the neck 35 of a bottle, Fig. 1, is inserted into the thimble 25 from its under side to have the mouth of the bottle come into contact with the abutment 34, whereupon the bottle is lifted to overcome the spring 39 and through the lever system rock the roller I9 to carry the straw or straws contained in the groove 20 around to one side to permit those straws to drop out of the groove. The straws dropped will, of course, strike the finger 33 in the path thereof and since this finger 33 is to one side of the centers of those straws, the longer ends thereof will continue to drop and since these longer ends are over the mouth of the funnel member 32, they will drop on down therein and be rocked around to approach vertical positions as they continue to fall and pass on down through the lower opening in the funnel 32 to drop on down into the mouth of the bottle 35, whereupon the bottle may be removed with the straws positioned therein.

Thus it is to be seen that the straws are not only dispensed one or more at a time as may be desired but that they are also turned from horizontal to inclined positions approaching the vertical so that they may drop in first into the container of the liquid in which the straws are to be used, all without being exposed to handling or exposed to the atmosphere outside of the housing Ill.

The housing It is provided with a suitable cover 36, herein shown as being connected therewith by the hinge 31. The cover 36 in the present form is shown as being arched upwardly so that a package of straws may be placed diagonally in the trough II and still be covered over. The package in any event is placed directly into the trough II to be aligned thereby and then the cover 36 is closed for sanitary purposes.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in the one particular form, it is obvious that structural changes may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention and I, therefore, do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations as may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a dispenser for delivering straws directly into-a bottle, the combination with a straw hopper formed to retain straws in parallel alignment and a shiftable member under the hopper having a slot therealong restricted in cross-sectional area to receive a selected number of straws from the hopper; of an arm, means for shifting said shiftable' member to dump straws from said slot onto said arm, said arm being positioned to be contacted by the straws at a. position removed from the longitudinal centers of the straws whereby the longer ends of the straws tend to drop by gravity, means for receiving the falling straws tending to direct them toward vertical positions, said receiving means having an opening at its lower end, a bottle mouth receiving member interconnected with and adapted to actuate said slotted member shifting means upon raising the bottle mouth receiving member, said bottle mouth receiving member aligning the mouth of a bottle carried thereagainst with said opening, whereby the straws uptilted by said arm are directed into the mouth and drop into the bottle.

2. In a dispenser for delivering straws directly side of the longitudinally into a bottle, the combination with a straw hopper formed to retain straws in parallel alignment and a shiftable member under the hopper having a slot therealong restricted in cross-sectional area to receive a selected number of straws from the hopper; of an arm, means for shifting said shiftable member to dump straws from said slot onto said arm, said arm being positioned to be contacted by the straws at a position removed from the longitudinal centers of the straws whereby the longer ends of the traws tend to drop by gravity, means receiving the falling straws tending to direct them toward vertical positions, said receiving means having an opening at its lower end, a bottle mouth receiving member interconnected with and actuating said slotted member shifting means upon raising the bottle mouth receiving member, said bottle mouth receiving member aligning the mouth of a bottle carried thereagainst with said opening, whereby the straws uptilted by said arm are directed into the mouth and drop into the bottle, said bottle mouth receiving member consisting. of a collar and a bottle abutment therewithin.

3. In a dispenser of soda straws, or rod-like members and the like from a hopper carrying the members in substantially horizontal parallel alignment, the hopper having a slot through which the members may drop, a roller under the hopper slot having a, longitudinal slot therealong to receive one or more of said members therein in accordance with the depth and width thereof, means for rocking the roller to dump the members from said slot, and an arm mounted adjacent said roller to be in the path of the members falling from the roller slot, said arm being mounted to one side of the longitudinal centers of the members whereby the members are rocked from their horizontal positions to have corresponding ends thereof directed downwardly.

4. In a dispenser of soda straws, or rod-like members and the like from a hopper carrying the members in substantially horizontal parallel alignment, the hopper having a slot through which the members may dro a roller under the hopper slot having a longitudinal slot therealong to receive one or more of said members therein in accordance with the depth and width thereof,

to dump the members from said slot, arm mounted adjacent said roller to be in the path of the members falling from theroller slot, said arm being mounted to one side of the longitudinal centers of the members whereby the members are rocked from their horizontal positions to have corresponding ends thereof directed downwardly, a ring mountthe members may slide downwardly end first.

members and the like from a hopper carrying the members in substantially horizontal parallel alignment, the hopper having a slot through which the members may drop, a roller under the hopper slot having a longitudinal slot therealong to receive one or more of said members therein in accordance with the depth and width thereof, means for rocking the roller to dump the members from said slot, and

sponding ends thereof directed downwardly, a ring mounted below said arm, and guide means receiving said member a they drop from said v which the members may drop, a roller under the hopper slot having a longitudinal slot therealong to receive one or more of said members therein in accordance with the depth and width thereof, means for rocking the roller to dump the members from'said slot, and an arm mounted adjacent said roller to be in the path of the members falling from the roller slot, said arm being mounted to one side of the longitudinal centers of the members whereby the members are rocked from their horizontal positions to have corresponding ends thereof directed downwardly, a ring mounted below said arm, and guide means receiving said members as they drop from said arm and directing them toward said ring through which the members may slide downwardly end first, said guide means comprising a funnel-like member opening at its lower smaller end through said ring, means for rotating said roller, said ring being interconnected with said rotating means to reciprocate in alignment with said funnel openmg. I

'7. In a dispenser of soda straws, toothpicks, or rod-like members from a hopper arranged to carry a supply of the members in substantially horizontal alignment to drop through a slot along the underside of the hopper, a rockable member under the hopper slot formed to receive therein one or more of the hopper carried members, means for rotating the rockable member to dump the hopper discharged members therefrom, and fixed means located to one side of the longitudinal centers of said members and in the path of the falling members for tilting them from horizontal positions by reason of those members rocking thereover under influence of gravity.

GEORGE W. PACE. 

